Portable gate



H. A. BURGESS.

PORTABLE GATE. APPLICATION HLED APR. 29. 1920.

PatentedJune 6, 1922.

' ZSHEETSSHEET /2 FI GJ.

@Z/A v 25 INVENTOR )HARRY 11811 TORNEY H. A. BURGESS.

PORTABLE GATE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.29, I920.

1,419,013. P nte lune 6, 1922. v

2 $HEET$SHEET Z.

INVENTOR HARRY ASH/76555- tihllillilifi iillhy tflfiati ti e the my ILAERY A. BURGESS, OF GOQDLAND, INDIANA. ASSIGNOR TO ROMINE MANUFAC- TUBING 00., O1 GOODLAND, INDIANA, A CURPQREL'EJKGN OF INBIAINA.

PORTABLE earn.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 65, 1922.

Application filed April 29, 1920. Serial No. SWA-Gl.

forming the body of the gate, said metallic parts being so constructed that they may be quickly assembled with the bars to form the gate.

A further feature of the invention is in so constructing the various parts of the gate structure that no bolts or pins will be entered through the bars of the gate for holding the parts in assembled position, said bars having freedom of movement in one direction so that when lifting action is exerted at the free end of the gate, said end may be ele vated for forminga passage below the gate, the parts of the gate assuming a rigid state when again lowered to natural position.

A further feature of the invention is the provision of means for vertically adjusting the bars of the gate for supporting and maintaining the same in a normally horizontal position, tensioning means being provided, in conj unc holding the parts of the gate in assembled formation.

A further feature of the invention is in so constructing the metal parts of the gate that they may be used in connection with bars of varying" lengths for producing a gate of greater or less length.

A further feature of the invention is the P ovision of a latch structure that will automatically operate to lock the gate in closed position when the gate is swung to closed position from either direction, the locking member being positive in its operation and operable manually for releasing the gate.

Other objects and advantages will be hereinafter morefully set forth in the accompanying specification.

In the accompanying drawings which are made a part of this application,

Figure l is a perspective view of a gate applied to use.

biOIl with the adjusting means, for

2 is a top plan View of the gate. B 1g. 5 is an enlarged sectional view as seen on line3-3, Fig. 2.

p 4 is an enlarged sectional view as seen on line t-i, Fig. 2.

3L i 1g. is a si e e eta ion of the gate with the rree end thereof elevated to providea passage below the gate.

Fig. 6 1s anenlarged sectional View as seen on line 66, Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a front elevation of a gate latch,

showing one position of the locking part in full lines and another position in dotted lines.

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the latch.

Fig. 9 is a front elevation of the gate latch with the locking member removed.

Fig. 10 is a top shown in Fig. 9.

Retiring to the drawings in which similarreference numerals designate correspond ing parts throughout the several views, l and 2 indicate respectively the front and rear end frame members of the gate, which are preferably substantially U-shape' in plan View of the parts cross sectiom 3 indicates a'pair of brace members, preferably positioned at the long' udinal center of the gate structure and 4 itates a pair of supporting membergpos1 nonecl adjacent the rear endof the gate structure the members 2) and 4 being pref erably angular shaped in cross section, said. parts be i formed of metal.

Passing between the pairs of members 3 and 4t, are bars 5, preferably of wood or similar light material, the ends of said bars entering the frame members 1 and 2 and having free movement therein and these bars may be made of any preferred length,

width and tl'iiclrness as may be desired so that gates of different lengths may be produced by merely changing the bars from one length for ears of another length, the same frame members or metal parts being used in all instances.

The bars 5 held in proper spaced re-- lation by means of pins 6 and 7, which are passed tras'isvcrsely through the end memher 1 and the brace members 3, respectively, there being a pin above and one below each bar 5. butnot passing through the bars so that the ends of the bars 5 entering the frame member 2 may be raised or lowered as desired without interfering with the be elevated to maintain the gate structure in a substantially horizontal position at all times.

Thismanner of ar anging the bolts 8 and 9 also leaves the bars 5 free to pivot on the bolts 9 when the outer end of the gate structure is elevated as shown in Fig. 5 without disturbing or changing the positions of the parts 2 and 4:.

The supporting memberst are adjusted vertically through the medium of a clevis 10, the arms of which pass on opposite sides of the pair of supporting members and engaged with one of the bolts 9 while the upper end thereof is engaged with the hook terminal 11 of an adjusting bolt 12. the outer end of the bolt 12 extending through the wall of the frame member 2 and having a nut 13 threaded thereon, which when rotated, will adjust the bolt lengthwise and raise or lower the supporting members l and parts associated therewith.

The supporting members are held in spaced relation with the frame member 2 by means of straps 14c, which-are arranged in pairs and the ends thereof are bolted or otherwise secured to the member 2 and supports at respectively, said straps having pivoting action so that the supports willhave free vertical movement. 1

The end section 1 is held in position over the outer ends of the bars 5 and the brace members 3 are held in stationary position by means of stay wires 1 and 15 at the top and bottom. respectively, of the gate structure, the rear ends of said wires being attached to stirrups 16 at the upper and lowerends of the supporting members 1 and at "their outer ends to tensioning hooks 17, which extend through the wall of the frame member 1. and have nuts 18 threaded thereon for giving longitudinal adjustment. The wires 14 and 15 are preferably made in two sections and themeeting ends of the two sections looped around pins 19 and 20 at the upper and lowerends of the brace members although it will be understood that each wire may be made in one piece and looped around or otherwise fastened to the pins 19 and 20. By this construction the brace member 3 is not only held in position. but theend member 1 is forced against the ends of the bars 5 and the opposite ends thereof forced into the member 2, thus giving a more or less rigid gate structure and the wires 14-h and 15 may be tightened or loosened from time to time as desired. The gate structure is suspended from a post 21 by hinges, each comprising a socket member and bolt member 23, the socket members being attached in any suitable manner to the frame section 2, while the bolt members are attached to the post, and as the major. portion of the weight is suspended from the upper bolt, said bolt is extended entirely through the post and threaded to receive locking nuts 24, one at each side of the post for locking the upper bolt against longitudinal movement. As all the strainon the lower hinge bolt is inwardly; it is not necessary to extend it entirely through the post, consequently the end of this bolt is preferably sharpened and driven a. distance into the post.

This gate is adapted to swing either to the right or left when moving to open or closed position, hence it is necessary to provide a latch structure that will automatically stop the swinging movement of the gate and lock the gate against further swinging movement in either direction until the latch no yer is o aerated manuall for releasin the l i -1:

gate, the end of thelatch proper engaged by the gate, as it swings to closed position, being free to move upwardly while the opposite end is held against upward movement, thus forming'a positive step for the gate In carrying out this construction a plate 25 is attached to a post 26 in any preferred manner the lower edge portion of the plate having an upwardly bowed track 27 upon which a shank 28 carried by the frame member 1, rides when the gate is moving to closed position, the track positively guiding the shank into engagement with um locking latch 29 ainfl'supporting the KVGlgllt of the end of the gate while in closed position.

To prevent the from being lifted after it has been closed, a block 530 isformed on the face of the plate and extends laterally above thetrach :27, the space between the plate and block being sufficient to receive the shank 28, consequently the gate can not be raised or lowered so long the shank is positioned between the track and block, the ends of the track and block being curved so that the shank will readily ride into the passage beta-ecu the track and bloclc The track 52'? is greater in width than the block 3U to provide space for the latch 29, the combined width of the block and latch being substantially the same as the widthof the track so that the lower edge of the latch norm ally rests upon the track and as the ends of the latch are rounded or curved, it will readily ride over the shank as the gate swings to closed oosition. The lower edge face of the latch 29 is provided with a notch 31, the end walls 32 of which are inclined inwardly and underhang the shank 28 when the shank moves into engagement with either end wall, this action preventing the latch bouncing upwardly from the impact sufiiciently to release the shank, thus forniinga positive lock.

The latch 29 is held inv position above the track 2? by studs 33, which project from the block 30 and extend through inverted L- shaped slots 84- in the latch, said slots being opposed to each other and so located that when one of the studs is seated at the closed end of one of the horizontal portions of one slot, the other stud will be in position to enter the vertical portion of the other slot,

consequently that end of the latch containing the slot with which the stud is in registration with the vertical portion. of the slot, may be elevated or moved away from the track to admit the shank, while the opposite end of the latch pivots on the other stud and is held against upward movement, thus forming a positive stop for the shank. As soon as the shank passes into registration with the notch 31, the elevated end ofthe latch will instantly descend by gravity, thus placing an inclined wall of the notch in the path of the shank in both directions and preventing the escape of the shank from the notch until the latch is manually operated to raise one end of the latch and thus move one of the end walls of the notch out of the path of the shank.

As shown in Fig. 7, the latch 29 is positioned for the gate to open or close from the right hand side, the position of the latch, when closed, being shown in full lines and in its open position by dotted lines, but if. the gate is to be opened in the opposite direction, the latch is moved longitudinally until the vertical portion of the slot 341 at the left hand end of the latch is in registration with the stud in said slot, thus reversing the action of the latch. The latch 29 is held in position on the studs 33 in any suitable manner, preferably by upsetting the free ends of the studs to form heads Supposing the gate to be in closed position, to release the same from the latch structure so that the gate may be opened, the handle portion 36 of the latch 29 is grasped and the latch moved bodily in the direction in which the gate is to be swung and the latch then manually elevated at one end for mov ing the end wall of the notch 31 out of the path of the shank 28, when the gate may be wung to open position. The latch is then released, when the end thereof, elevated to release the shank, will descend by gravity and be in position to automatically elevate when the shank again rides over the track 27 during the closing movement of the gate.

By entering the ends of the bars between the pins 6 and 7 and the bolts 8 and 9 as shown, the outer end of the gate may be elevated to pass over an obstruction, such as snow or the like, or elevated, as shown in Fig. 5' of the drawings to provide a space below the gate for the passage of small animals, and when so used, the end of the gate may be permanently held in elevated position-by engaging the lower tensioning book 17 with the latch mechanism.

The invention claimed is:

1. A gate structure including a plurality of bars disposed horizontally, a U-shaped frame member at the front and rear ends of said bars, a pair of angular shaped supporting members adjacent the rear ends of said bars, means for holding the supporting members in spaced relation with the rear frame member, bolts extending transversely through said supporting members below the bars passing therebetween, and similar bolts passing transversely through the rear frame member and above the ends of said bars, whereby the bars will fulcrum 0n the bolts through the supporting members when the forward ends of the bars are elevated and the rear ends of the bars move independently of the rear frame member.

2. A gate structure including a front and rear frame member, bars having their ends removably engaged with said frame members, a pair of brace members cooperating with said bars between their ends, a pair of supporting members, means for attaching the supporting members to the rear frame member and space the same therefrom, tensioning wires at the upper and lower edges of the gate for holding the frame members and bars in assembled relation and the brace members in spaced position,;means for holding the bars in spaced relation, and means for raising and lowering the supporting members for determining the elevation of said bars comprising a clevis having its lower ends connected to said supporting members, a bolt having a hook terminal for engagement with said clevis, and means for adjustably attaching said bolt to the rear frame member.

3. A gate structure including a plurality of bars, a frame member at each end of said bars for loosely receiving the ends of said bars, supporting members for the bars, means for connecting said supporting members with one of the frame members, brace members for the bars positioned between the frame members, wires connecting the ends of the brace members with the ends of the supporting members, wires extending from the brace members to the forward frame member, and tension hooks adjustably connected with the front frame member to which the latter wires are attached for holding the frame members in engagement with the ends of the bars and holding the brace members in spaced position.

4:. In a gate structure, a plurality of horizontally disposed bars, frame members fitting; over the ends of said bars, supporting members adjacent the rear frame member, a clevis attached at one end to the supporting members, a bolt having a hook terminal for engagement with the olevis, said bolt passing through parts of the rear frame member, means {or adjusting said bolt longitudinelly, and means eerried by said sup porting members and the rear frame memher for elevating the forward portlon of said bars when the supporting members are elevated.

In testimony whereof I hereto aflix my signature.

HARRY A. BURGESS; 

